Where / What / Why
An Overview:
It's been said that every hotel has more than 100 accounts that could be bringing incremental, local business to that
hotel. . .all within a 5-mile radius of that property. Draw a 10-mile radius and the local potential almost doubles . Take
every opportunity to sell your hotel - to local accounts - within a 5-mile radius of your hotel. Hopefully this tip sheet will
provide some ideas for you to help stimulate local sales.
AAA Offices
With more than 41MM members, AAA is an excellent source of rooms for your hotel. Travel counselors and AAA Agents
will often distribute coupons or flyers to their travelers (in their TripTix packages) if your offer includes a special AAA rate
specifically for members; like a $10 off coupon for weekends. Ask about hosting an AAA member tradeshow at your hotel.
Advertising Agencies
Many ad agencies recruit nationwide for employees, which is an excellent source of incremental room nights. In addition
to
recruiting, many agency clients often fly in to review creative pitches for accounts. At the very least, you could offer a quid
pro quo of comp room trade-outs for any advertising creative or artwork that your hotel may need.
Airports
Crew business is an excellent source of year-round business for your hotel. Most airline contracts are negotiated on a
national basis, but there is always opportunity for incremental room night business from distressed passengers or crew
who
may be over-nighted due to inclement weather, strikes, or aircraft mechanical issues.
Apartment Complexes
Like relocation companies, many apartment complexes receive out-of-town travelers who are/will be in the process of
relocation. Establishing a rapport with the local apartment managers can also prove invaluable for renters who are
displaced
due to apartment repainting, water damage, fire or other multiple nights stay opportunities.
Beauty Salons/Parlors
This venue is an excellent source of business leads for weddings, reunions, weekend stays (romantic get-a-ways?) and
incremental leisure travel for visiting relatives who might be coming to town. Utilize promotional offers or discount coupons
pushing existing hotel/room amenities.
Car Dealerships
Offer local dealerships a discounted "test drive" or "new car owner" weekend rate so that potential car purchasers can
receive a freebie from the dealer for test driving or purchasing a new car. This has the potential to drive needed weekend
business or offset occupancy dips.
Catering Halls
A terrific source of rooms business, catering halls can be an excellent source for your hotel. These banquet facilities
usually
focus on meetings, reunions, weddings, but also have need for rooms for overnight set-up and tear-down teams that
provide
AV services associated with these events.
Churches / Synagogues
Or Temples
Local churches and synagogues often have need of rooms for out of town visitors, specialty entertainment for events, and
even provide assistance/guidance for members in the event of funerals, weddings, disaster relief, etc.
Coachquote.com
For hotels needing group bus or motorcoach business, coachquote.com is an excellent resource. This internet site allows
hotels to list rates, dates and availability to group tour & motorcoach planners 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. A nominal,
annual fee is required to list your property. Log on today and review the site.
City Business Journals
A great source of local business opportunities, City Journals tell of company relocations, expansions, or growth of certain
industries in your local market. In addition to the local opportunities, many hotels have had great success advertising
business/holiday messages and offers in journals from feeder cities. Advertising is usually very cost effective for the
circulation, and many City Journals will do advertising trade-outs with hotels for sleeping or meeting rooms for their
special
events.
Colleges/Universities
Guest lecturers, collegiate sporting events, graduations and student recruitment/relocations all offer an excellent source of
business for your hotel. Most college departments are budgeted as separate entities, so the potential for multiple contacts
and different pieces of business at the same University is very high.
Competitive Hotels
(Locally)
There is no better source for potential room night business than from your competitors. They're competitively shopping
you,
so you better shop them. Daily review of in-hotel reader boards or lobby cruising allows you the opportunity to source
valuable new leads for meetings, group and Social, Military, Education, Religion, Fraternal & Ethnic (SMERFE) business.
Construction Companies
And Contractors
Check with your local Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development Corporation to find out about new
companies/industries/construction planned for your area. Out-of-town construction crews need extended-stay lodging and
meal service. Your hotel is ideal for this type of business.
A To Z Sales Prospecting Tips & Leads
Convention & Visitor
Bureaus
Typically every hotel in a given markets zeroes in on the CVB or Convention Authority as a lead source. Volunteer your
time/services and become a member in your CVB or Chamber to gain the inside scoop to new events heading to your
market. An often overlooked lead source at the CVB is for the out-of-town community development team hired by the city
or
CVB who often spend multiple nights in a market for the sole purpose of fund-raising for the city.
E-Bay
Combine slow weekend nights with a ski / golf / theatre package and auction off those packages on E-bay. You can
establish minimum pricing and length of time for auction. Credit cards, pre-pay or Pay Pal are all easy ways to ensure you
receive payment for these packages & room nights
Elementary & High
Schools
Teachers have (on average) 2.5 months of free time throughout the summer. Use this audience to drive needed weekend
business; push romantic get-a-ways, use of pool, etc. Offer to be a speaker for "Career Days". Ask the principal if you can
distribute cookies, coupons and information about your hotel in the Teacher lounge or as take-home flyers for the
students.
Exit Information Guide
One of the best distribution vehicles to reach the price-sensitive traveler, Exit Information Guides are distributed in local
restaurants, welcome centers, and rest areas. Usually coupon-based, these booklets contain offers from all your major
competitors, at deeply discounted rates. You can usually "fence" your rates based on availability, and black-out dates or
tiered-rate pricing (due to seasonal demand) can apply. Visit their website at www.exitinformationguide.com.
Funeral Homes
Death is inevitable, and unfortunately unavoidable. That being said, there is always the potential for new business through
funeral homes if you take the time to develop a rapport with the funeral home director/owner that is calm, compassionate
and professional in manner. In addition to offering the out-of-town attendees a personalized bereavement rate, you might
also consider offering a comp room or suite to serve as a quiet place for the family and close friends to gather and
socialize.
Offer early check-in and late check-out as needed to provide the family every possible convenience during this sensitive
time.
Government Agencies
Before calling on Government Agencies, ensure that your hotel is FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Act)
approved,
or on the FEMA list of approved hotels in order to secure government business. Call FEMA toll-free at 800-238-3358 to
find
out. Also, ensure that you are loading Federal, State and Local government per diem rates in your inventory for sale
through
all distribution channels and reservation offices.
Government Agencies Recruiting
On a weekly basis, these recruiting offices are bringing in prospective recruits for testing and evaluation, as well as
housing
them prior to departures to basic training. Government housing (also called Base Housing) fills up quickly, and this
represents a great source of incremental room nights and F&B opportunity for your hotel.
Hotel & Travel Index
A publication of Cahner's Travel, HTI is one of the most targeted travel agent books on the market. A quarterly publication,
HTI is shipped to more than 83,000 agents nationwide which use this book as a hotel reference and information gathering
tool for their clients. For more information on HTI, go to their website: www.htihotelink.com.
Hospitals
In the event of long-term health care issues, hospitals can provide you with an excellent source of extended-stay
business.
Contact local hospital administrators for a capabilities presentation for your hotel, and a special LNR can be established
for
this institution in exchange for them mentioning your hotel as needed.
Hospitality / Welcome
Centers
Usually funded by your local CVB or Chamber (and staffed by volunteers), these facilities are excellent sources of
transient
travelers who have a flexible travel schedule. Contact the local Welcome Center Manager and offer to provide cookies for
the volunteers in exchange for them wearing your hotel monogrammed shirts or button. Offer to set up a "Mention this
welcome center when checking in" rate which allows you to track performance of this facility. Also, many hotels have had
great success with fax blasting each welcome center in their area with a "We Still Have Rooms" rate offer during slow
weeks or weekends. The fax blast is then posted on the facility bulletin boards for travelers to view & book rooms.
Hotel Staff
Even employee rate rooms are valuable (for those out-of-town relatives coming to visit family) when the economy stalls or
occupancy dips in off-season. Ask each employee for 5 potential leads they may know (previous employers ?) and then
offer a $5 cash-back premium for each room booked as a result of the referral.
Hotel Guests (In-house)
Train your Front Desk and Night Audit staff to potentially identify a leisure traveler who may be open to spending another
night in your hotel to extend their vacation. Utilizing a Next Night Stay card (or something similar), you can slip the special
room night or amenity offer under the door (with their previous night's folio) to these travelers to secure an additional
incremental room night. Make the offer compelling and attractive as most leisure travelers have the flexibility to alter their
schedules.
Housing Authority (Local)
Where the Red Cross ends, many local Housing Authorities begin. At some point homeowners may be faced with the
possibility of spending a few nights out-of-home due to fire, flood or weather related home damage. Like funerals, this is a
difficult and sensitive time for these families. Rates can be negotiated in advance with the HA representative and
established as an LNR.
Human Resource Offices
Of Local Companies
Relocation for employees joining companies (or for existing employees) is becoming much more commonplace in the
workplace as companies try to retain top employees. Contact local companies in your 10-mile radius and arrange for a
site
inspection (or family trip of your hotel) with the Human Resource Director or Relocation Department. Stress the things that
are important to them when securing this type of business (local access, special rate, meeting facilities, etc.) to ensure
that
you are top of mind with them when it comes to placing their employees in your hotel.
Insurance Agencies
When disaster strikes (fire, flood, tornado, termites, etc.) many insurers pay for their homeowner policy holders to stay at
a
local hotel while their home is being repaired. Developing a relationship with local insurance agents beforehand can pay
off
in the long run for your hotel. Sell features, benefits and special pricing to homeowners and out-of-town insurance
adjusters
who are assessing disaster claims damage.
Liquor Stores
Frequently local liquor stores are contacted by customers to provide beverages for local events, programs or promotional
opportunities. Liquor stores may not be your first on a series of locations to contact, but they should be in your
consideration
set.
Motorcoach / Bus
Companies
As noted in the section on coachquote.com, motorcoach and bus company tours are booming as the largest section of the
working population is at, or near retirement age. These tours allow them to travel with groups of their peers, so the
vacation
or tour is much more enjoyable. To contact a list of motorcoach companies running tours in your area, contact the
American
Bus Association (ABA), or the National Tour Association (NTA) for details. Stress your hotel's benefits that work on their
behalf (1 comp room for 25 booked, priority check-in, General Manager reception, etc.) to ensure that you receive your
fair
share of this business.
Museums
Curators, guest lecturers and staff with traveling exhibits all offer excellent room night potential. Become a museum
docent
and attend monthly meetings where applicable. Offer a comp room or suite at your hotel for museum ad hoc meetings, or
offer to cater an event for museum staff (with cookies, brownies or other F&B) showcasing your hotel to these prospects.
Newspapers
Engagement announcements, local job fairs, town festivals, new business announcements (and even obituaries sadly
enough) all offer great potential in sourcing new business. Develop a relationship with the newspaper publisher and
reporters for certain news segments to get the inside scoop on corporate relocations, new business ventures or city-wide
events & conventions heading to your market.
Pharmaceutical
Companies
Pharmaceutical companies represent a very large part of our business, and their sales reps are constantly on the road.
Most
of the larger companies (Upjohn, Bayer, etc.) already have negotiated chain agreements with Six Continents Hotels &
Resorts, so check your individual OnLine site for the Key Account Director who manages these specific accounts for
details
on how to capture more of this business.
Priceline.com
Though much of the hype about priceline.com has stalled, this Internet channel still provides hotels with an excellent
opportunity to drive incremental room night business. It isn't always about price, and sometimes a rate that you quote
priceline.com may appear high to you, but ideal for someone traveling to your market.
Radio Stations (AM or FM)
Often times, many local radio stations feature concerts, special events, or special musical tribute weekends designed to
promote their radio station and their city. Contact the promoters of these special events to discuss ways that your hotel
can
serve as "command central" for the staging of these events. Other possibilities include being the host hotel for out-of-town
talent or even the crews who usually arrive a few days prior to, and depart a few days after the scheduled event(s).
Real Estate Offices
Real estate offices (in conjunction with relocation department of local companies) represent a terrific opportunity for
room night business. Relocating executives on house-hunting trips with spouses or family are ideal for your hotel. Contact
any local Real Estate office for more details, and offer your hotel as a venue for their next regional sales meeting or event
so
that you have all the local realtors in your area on-site as a captive audience for your hotel sales staff. Ask for 10-15
minutes
during a break to present your hotel, or arrange to have a table-top display with all your hotel collateral. Offer booking
incentives (comp rooms, or dinner @ your hotel) to this group when they mention your hotel to prospective clients.
Red Cross Centers
Any type of disaster relief, recovery, or emergency agency is an excellent source of business. These groups routinely hold
emergency awareness training seminars on policy & procedures and government rules & regulations updates. In the
event
of a local emergency, room demand will be at a premium and an existing relationship with these agencies will prove
valuable
for securing incremental room nights.